The relationship between power and decision making

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TSP2018Blandford_Redacted.pdf (723.35 KB)

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http://library.towson.edu/digital/collection/etd/id/66283

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http://hdl.handle.net/11603/12273

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Towson University Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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2018-12-14

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theses
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Towson university. Department of Psychology

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Abstract

Perceived power affects individual action across all social settings. Higher power individuals have a greater tendency to influence others and make more confident and risky decisions. This study investigates how un-manipulated, generalized power affects decision-making. Participants completed the same decision-making task twice, individually and then in a team. Higher power individuals did not make more confident decisions than lower power individuals. Through comparing participant's answers from both times the task was completed, it was determined that power did not affect the amount of influence an individual had on team answers. Oppositely, the higher the average power on a team, the less risky shift that occurred. Findings may have resulted from a lack of task knowledge, or that team power hierarchies were not yet formed. Less powerful teams may have engaged in more risky shift because of their acceptance of uncertainty while making decisions